Analysis of Mr. Finney's Turnip

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)



Mr. Finney had a turnip,
And it grew, and it grew,
And it grew behind the barn,
And the turnip did no harm.

And it grew, and it grew,
Till it could grow no taller;
Then Mr. Finney took it up
And put it in the cellar.

There it lay, there it lay,
Till it began to rot ;
When his daughter Susie washed it
And put it in the pot.

Then she boiled it and boiled it,
As long as she was able;
Then his daughter Susie took it
And put it on the table.

Mr. Finney and his wife
Both sat down to sup;
And they ate, and they ate,
Until they ate the turnip up.


Scheme aBxx Bcac xded efef xaxa
Poetic Form Quatrain  (80%)
Etheree  (25%)
Metre 10101010 011011 0110101 0010111 011011 1111110 11010111 0110010 111111 110111 11101011 011001 1111011 1111110 11101011 0111010 1010011 11111 011011 01110101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 534
Words 119
Sentences 9
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 81
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 01, 2023

35 sec read
259

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. more…

All Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poems | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Books

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